Rian Johnson recently told Business Insider while promoting “Poker Face” Season 2 that he wants the next “Knives Out” movie, “Wake Up Dead Man,” to be released in as many movie theaters as possible. Whether Netflix delivers on this wish later this year remains to be seen. Johnson’s interview came in the wake of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stirring up controversy online by calling the movie theater model “outdated.”
“Obviously I don’t [agree],” Johnson said when asked to respond to Sarandos’ comment. “I love movies. I love going to see movies. But also, I have a feeling talking to Ted, it would be a different thing than one quote taken and kind of tossed at me in this context. So, I don’t want to phrase this as I’m having a proxy discussion with Ted right here.”
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“I think theatrical is not going anywhere,” the filmmaker added, pointing to the recent blockbuster success of movies like “Sinners” and “A Minecraft Movie.” Johnson added: “We’ve seen if you put a movie people want to see in the theaters, they are going to show up for it, and that experience of being in a full house and having that experience is so important. It’s something that I love and I want more of in the world.”
Johnson’s comments come after Sarandos appeared at the Time100 Summit last month and noted “we’re in a period of transition. Folks grew up thinking, ‘I want to make movies on a gigantic screen and have strangers watch them [and to have them] play in the theater for two months and people cry and sold-out shows.’ … It’s an outdated concept.”
Asked specifically if the desire of filmmakers wanting to make movies “for movie theaters, for the communal experience” is “an outmoded idea,” Sarandos said, “I think it is — for most people, not for everybody. If you’re fortunate to live enough in Manhattan, and you can walk to a multiplex and see a movie, that’s fantastic. Most of the country cannot.”
Netflix broke with its internal tradition for the release of 2022’s “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery,” partnering with major theater chains like AMC for the first time to give the Johnson-directed sequel a broader theatrical release. The film played in 600 movie theaters nationwide for one week about a month before its streaming launch. Netflix has not made a similar deal with a major theater chain since, although it is teaming up with Imax to give Greta Gerwig’s “Chronicles of Narnia” movie a 2026 theatrical release on Thanksgiving Day. “Narnia” will play on Imax screens for two weeks and then debut Christmas Day on Netflix.
“I want this in as many theaters for as long as possible,” Johnson said about the third “Knives Out” movie. “We’re going to push for everything we can get in terms of theatrical, because I want as many people as possible to see it in that form.”
“Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” is once again written and directed by Johnson. Daniel Craig returns as the detective Benoit Blanc for a new mystery that features cast members Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis, Jeremy Renner, Kerry Washington, Andrew Scott, Cailee Spaeny, Daryl McCormack and Thomas Haden Church. The film is set to debut in the fall.
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